Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

I’ve referenced this game on this blog three times, and, each time, I have invoked the game’s name in a positive manner. So it is time to talk about it. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was originally released in 2010 on the Nintendo DS. 13 years later, an HD remake for it came out on most consoles for $30. It is currently on sale at $20 as I write this. If anything I say in this review makes it sound interesting, please purchase the game. It was buried as a very late DS launch just before the poor Nintendo 3DS launch and never got the attention it deserved. Though the author, Shu Takumi, has no intentions of writing a sequel, I would absolutely love to support any side endeavor of his if they’re all up to this quality.

Shu Takumi is a name you might know from his more popular works as the head writer of the Ace Attorney series, where he wrote and directed the original Trilogy as well as the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. They are masterpiece games in their own wright. I can’t read Mr. Takumi’s thoughts so I can’t tell you why he wasn’t a director or writer on any game after Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations in 2004. But my speculation is that he was done with the Ace Attorney series and wanted to write something else, like Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.

Ghost Trick is a Rube Goldberg Machine puzzle game mixed with a visual novel. The central hook is that you play as the ghost of a man named Sissel who has lost his memory and is trying to get it back. You do this by using “ghost tricks”, sprite-like actions that lightly manipulate inanimate objects such as folding an umbrella or turning a lever. Additionally, you have the power to go back 4 minutes prior to a person’s death if you find their corpse. Heck of an “additionally”, I know. You are usually tasked with saving this person’s life during those 4 minutes by using your ghost tricks.

That is the vague, spoiler-free hook of the game. If it sounds interesting, please buy it.

Now, what sets Ghost Trick apart from other visual novels are a couple of things. The first is the focus on action puzzle-solving. Those 4 minutes are a bit of a blurry time limit that varies from chapter to chapter, but the time limit keeps the tension extremely high as you try and find a way to get your spirit in a position to save the victim as the countdown flashes on the screen.

The second is how incredibly tight the narrative is–there is zero filler in all 18 chapters. As such, the game is around 8-12 hours for an average first-time completion because the game does everything it wants in that short time frame. Every character has an important role to play. The stakes continually get raised as new information is revealed. It even does a perfect job leaving on a cliffhanger every chapter to get you to keep playing–I know my friend played the final 8 chapters in a row until 3 AM because of how gripping the game was.

Lastly, the plot and gameplay are a perfect fit. The game is a series of, like I said, Rube Goldberg Machine puzzles. The story perfectly embodies that with every action having an equal and opposite reaction that pushes things forward. Oh, and the scenarios that such a “simple” idea of reviving corpses and doing ghost tricks on inanimate objects are incredibly creative. The Ace Attorney series does a good job of making the gameplay fit the story, but Ghost Trick makes you really feel like YOU are driving the story as you spin a table to make sure the turkey without a radio transmitter is served to a table so that 2 people don’t die. I also feel that the time limit does a lot for upping the intensity compared to most other visual novels that give you infinite time to sift through dialogue options.

I don’t want to talk much at all about the story because almost everything I write after that initial summary is a spoiler. And that’s because everything in Ghost Trick is relevant. Well, except for two early villains. Eh, one. And even then, they’re at least remembered. But you must know that the story is incredible. There is some amount of suspension of disbelief you need to go along with the ride, but, hey, it’s a freaking video game. Why expect realism?

Without being able to say much about the story or gameplay because of how interconnected they are, I can only talk about the presentation. Regardless about how people may feel about the story or gameplay, Ghost Trick has always been beloved for two things: its animations and music.

I will have to stop here. But I think you get my point. Keep in mind that this is originally a Nintendo DS game, which was a pretty low-spec system. And they got every inch of graphical prowess put into the animations. These low-poly, low frame rate animations have more soul in them than all 2010 contemporary FPSes. And the best part is that the remake keeps all the animations but makes them way less blurry and with more frames for a smoother look. It’s incredibly well done.

Like I said, the other thing is the music. I will post a YouTube video with the entire OST below, but you only need the first song really. I think the music speaks for itself.

To wind down this really unhelpful, uninformative review of an obscure game, I’ll quickly go over the other things the remake added. There’s a set of extra puzzles to do once you beat the game, there’s some cool concept art, and there’s an in-game way to listen to the soundtrack. Also, if you, like me, only experienced the game by watching someone else play it, you’ll finally be able to see the interesting extra dialogue in the Phone Book as well as in areas you aren’t supposed to be in because ZSlyzer only showed the critical path. That stuff isn’t new, but it might as well be.

I just wanted to get something out there as I continue to think about how to write about Tears of the Kingdom. I surprisingly have little I want to say about it personally and have found myself far more interested on the game’s legacy. But I’d like to, at some point, plant my flag and state which side of history I’m on, even if it turns out to be wrong. And, if it is wrong, Sissel will take me back 4 minutes prior to my online death, and save it.

Please buy Ghost Trick.